Ebun Olowu
The President of the African Bank of Development (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, has been cleared of corruption allegations by an independent review panel of experts, headed by former Irish President, Mary Robinson.
The coast is now clear for him to seek re-election as President of the Bank for a second five-year term during the annual meetings of the bank scheduled for August 25-27.
Adesina had earlier been cleared by an internal probe panel of all allegations leveled against him by some staff who accused him of nepotism, corporate governance infractions, among others.
However, Steve Mnuchin, U.S. secretary of finance, called for an independent probe to further look intto the allegations against Adesina.
AFP reports that the panel of three experts, led by Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland, alongside Gambia’s Chief Justice Hassan Jallow and the World Bank’s integrity vice president Leonard McCarthy, cleared Adesina of all charges alleged by whistleblowers.
“The Panel concurs with the committee in its findings in respect of all the allegations against the President and finds that they were properly considered and dismissed by the Committee,” Monday’s report concluded.
The African banking institution and Adesina, who is the sole candidate for the bank’s August’s presidential elections, had been in the eye of the storm since April over allegations of impropriety leveled against him by some whistle blowers working in the bank.
The former Nigerian agriculture minister had always stated he was “innocent” of the charges.
Robinson, who led Ireland from 1990 to 1997 before serving as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights until 2002, dismissed the 16 whistle blowers allegations against Adesina.
The bank’s Ethics’ Committee, which first investigated the allegations, gave him a clean bill that was accepted by the Board of Governors, but the United States rejected the report and demanded a fresh probe by an independent body.
The board subsequently authorised an independent review of the Ethics Committee report on Adesina, who has received the backing of Nigeria and other African countries ahead of his reelection next month.
Reacting to the develpoment, President Muhammadu Buhari stated on his Twitter page, “The clearing of @akin_adesina of all the allegations against him, further validates his competence and integrity to lead the African Development Bank. Nigeria rejoices with him on this development. Congratulations!”
